New law aims to open more in-home child care in New Mexico

Bernalillo County families still face a child care shortage big enough to shape where parents can work, how much they pay and whether small businesses can keep staff. New Mexico now says it needs roughly 12,000 more child care spots, and a new law easing the opening of in-home day cares is being pushed as one way to close that gap.

The law, SB 96, became Chapter 62 after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed it on March 10, 2026. It treats registered child care homes, licensed family child care homes and licensed group child care homes as residential uses for zoning purposes, blocks local governments from imposing extra rules that do not also apply to other private residences in the same zoning district and bars homeowner associations from prohibiting those homes.

That matters in Albuquerque, where many families still live in child care deserts even after New Mexico launched universal free child care on November 1, 2025. State officials say nearly 300 providers have entered the field since the program started, but a statewide demand study still found a shortfall of 13,942 slots in 2024, with Bernalillo County among the counties with the biggest gaps along with Lea, Eddy, Santa Fe and Sandoval.

At a Saturday gathering at Starr Brothers Brewing Company, leaders from Growing Up New Mexico said the state’s child care promise will only work if more providers can open and stay open. Kate Noble, the group’s president and CEO, said more options help families get to work, support women, give children a stronger start and strengthen the broader child care sector. State Sen. Heather Berghmans said home-based day care should be especially helpful in rural communities, where opening a home operation is often more realistic than building a larger center.

The case for the law is practical as much as political. Early Childhood Education and Care Department officials have said confusing municipal zoning rules and rezoning delays can force providers into expensive renovations or long waits before they can serve children. Reporting last fall found New Mexico child care spots fell 3% between 2019 and 2023, and the number of people caring for children in their homes dropped by half over the same period.

For Bernalillo County, the test is not whether the law removes barriers on paper. It is whether more in-home providers actually open in Albuquerque neighborhoods where waitlists are still long and child care costs remain a constant pressure on working families.